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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27865057">Six Months</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Another_Introvert/pseuds/Another_Introvert'>Another_Introvert</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Compliant, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Tony Stark, Sad Peter Parker, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony survived Endgame</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:02:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,928</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27865057</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Another_Introvert/pseuds/Another_Introvert</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After Mysterio revealed Spider-man's identity, SHEILD took May and hid her for her protection. Six months later, Peter freaks out and leaves the lake house despite his father-figure's overprotectiveness.</p><p>Kind of a vent fic</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>May Parker (Spider-Man) &amp; Peter Parker, Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Six Months</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Six months.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peter hadn’t seen his aunt in six months.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Less than an hour after Mysterio had exposed him to the world, Tony had grabbed Peter and taken him to the lake house. When Peter was safe, he immediately went back to Queens to get May before the media got to her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But when he reached the Parkers’ apartment, she was nowhere to be found.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a week of freaking out and Morgan’s constant attempts to cheer him up, Peter was incredibly relieved to get confirmation that his aunt was safe.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then he went right back into freak-out mode. Because he had no idea where she was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>S.H.I.E.L.D had gotten to her first. When they couldn’t find Peter, they had taken her and apparently put her in a safehouse somewhere. Somewhere Nick Fury absolutely refused to tell him or Tony the location of.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now, six months of Tony being needlessly overprotective and yelling at Fury every other day later, Peter couldn’t take it anymore.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He got in May’s car that Tony had brought to the lake house, and started driving.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe it wasn’t the best decision to start driving aimlessly when the January snow was starting to come down hard. But while Tony was in his workshop on a call with Fury and Pepper was trying to get Morgan to sleep, he just...cracked. He loved being with the Starks, but he also wanted his aunt back. He had wanted her back since the moment she was reported missing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had been driving straight down a freeway for over an hour when the snow really decided to pick up. It became so thick that Peter could barely see five feet ahead. He’d have to pull over, or turn around, or-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He spotted something on the right side of the row. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It appeared to be the lights of one of those run down, middle-of-nowhere gas stations. It was probably occupied by truckers and meth addicts at the moment, but it was better than potentially crashing this car.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The moment he was able to see the driveway, he skidded the car into it. He held his breath as the vehicle slid on the ice and snow below, but he managed to speed up right next to the little store next to the gas pumps. He quickly put the car in park, taking a deep breath as he closed his eyes. This was such a bad idea. If he had needed to freak out about missing May, he could have just done it back at the lake house. Why did everything he did have to be so-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>HEY</span>
  </em>
  <span>!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The vague sound of a woman screaming cut his thoughts off. He turned his head in the direction of the small building, and could see a figure holding the door open.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sure, his face was known everywhere now, but going inside that building was probably better than potentially being snowed into the car.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peter quickly yanked out the car keys and opened the car door, slamming it behind him as he sprinted into the store. The store door closed, and Peter was now able to clearly see who had let him in.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A young woman who seemed only a few years older than Peter himself. She appeared to be Asian, and had long, wavy, deep auburn hair that was dyed dark green at the ends. The nametag on her blue vest read “Diana,” but the last three letters had a line struck through them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re insane to be out in this.” She said, brushing the snow out of her hair. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Trust me, I know.” He said as he pulled up his hood. The last thing he needed for this girl to recognize and report him to the media. “Thanks for letting me in.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She shrugged. “I’m just relieved you aren’t a drug addict. I get enough of those in here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peter looked around the small store, seeing no one else around. That was a relief, considering how people could possibly take pictures of him and since he wasn’t that far from where Tony lived so people would realize-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Holy shit, he was going to lose it when he realized Peter was gone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Even before Mysterio, Tony had been far more protective of him than normal. Watching him turn to dust and then risking everything to bring him back definitely took a toll on him. But after Mysterio, Tony barely let him leave the house because of how worried he was about him. It was sweet to see that he cared so much, but it kind of made his stress about May worse.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And now, he had vanished during a snowstorm, and Tony was going to go ballistic.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shuddered just at the thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, I know you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The blood drained from Peter’s face. “You-what? No, you don’t.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re that Spider-Person my girlfriend told me about. She showed me your picture, and I never forget a face.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shit, shit, </span>
  <em>
    <span>shit.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter remained speechless, his mouth ajar as he stared at the woman. She didn’t seem excited or anything. It seemed like she was just stating a fact. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry about me telling.” She said, walking casually over to the counter. “I couldn't care less about whatever the hell you did.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peter didn’t completely trust this woman, but it really seemed like she didn’t care about his reputation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He smiled awkwardly at him, seeing no point in hiding what he was anymore. “Peter Parker.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Di Ratakan.” She replied, pulling out a cell phone. “If you’re going to give  a call to tell someone where you are, you better do it now. It’s only a matter of time before this storm knocks out the already crappy signal out here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He wanted to call Tony. He really did. But calling Tony would mean Tony yelling at him for leaving, and for things to go back to the miserable way they had been for the past six months.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He loved Tony and the fact that he wanted to protect him, but Peter just needed some time away from that house for a while.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So, he kept his shut-off phone in his pocket.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So, Peter Parker, what brings you out here?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looked up at Di, who was pulling her wavy hair into a ponytail. “I thought you said you didn’t care.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t. I’m just trying to make conversation because it looks like we’re gonna be here for a while.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Damn. She was really blunt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I needed a breather.” He said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because the whole world knows you’re Spider-boy?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Spider-man,”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whatever. But is that why you’re in this trashy place?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Really, really blunt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sort of. My life got ruined six months ago, and I’m not any closer to fixing it. I really just want things to go back to normal, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He really needed to let his thoughts out, even if it was to a woman he had met only five minutes ago. Surprisingly, Di actually seemed to be paying attention to what he was saying, and there was a look in her eyes that seemed to be understanding. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know how you feel.” She said. “My girlfriend turned to dust right in front of me in the blip. Five years later, when it seemed like I was finally moving on, she came back. We’ve been trying to make it work, but there’s so much that she’s missed. It’s getting harder and harder to know each other. I wish all the time that we could go back to the way things used to be.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peter was slightly stunned. He had been so caught up in how things were before his identity was revealed that he hadn’t even thought about how things were for Tony, who had lost him for five whole years. Hearing Di talk about her girlfriend the way she had made him think about it. He didn’t want to lose Peter, and was giving it his all to make Peter’s life normal again. Even though May was gone, he still had Tony, who had been trying to make his life better.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was something that hadn’t changed since he’d met him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And he didn’t want it to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow. I-I’m really sorry about that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sighed. “Thank you. I really love her. I just...want to be able to know her again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter opened his mouth to say something comforting when he heard a familiar sound. The sound of Iron Man’s repulsors.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well. Time to die.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Di leaned over the counter looking out the windows as the Iron Man suit descended outside the building. “Wow. I don’t think I want to be here during this conversation.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She turned and went over to a door behind to counter, presumably leading to the break room, and shut herself in.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Not a minute later, Tony was out of the suit and throwing open the door to the store. He caught sight of Peter immediately, gasped in relief, ran over and embraced him. Peter happily returned the hug, gripping the back of Tony’s t-shirt for dear life.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh my God.” Tony gasped, his hand moving up to grasp the back of Peter’ head. “Are you okay? Are you alright, Pete?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine.” Peter reassured, pulling back. “I just...freaked out a little.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony looked confused. “About what?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“May. Being stuck at the lakehouse. Everything, really. I just...I want everything to be how it was. And it seems like it never will be.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony sighed, pulling Peter close to him again. “Oh, kid. I’m sorry. I really am. You know I’ve been trying as hard as I can to get her back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know. And I really should have thanked you for that earlier. And for trying to keep me safe.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony patted Peter’s back before pulling back. “I promise. We’re getting her back. I can’t stand seeing you like this, kiddo.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peter smiled. “Thanks, Tony.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He nodded, putting an arm around Peter’s shoulders. “Come on. The snow’s starting to die down a bit. Let’s get out of here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peter nodded when he heard a door open. He and Tony turned around to see Di walked out of the break room, her phone pressed up to her ear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, babe, you shouldn’t come get me. I’ll just get home when the snow stops, okay? I know how you drive in winter.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Di was silent for a moment, subtly wincing. “I-I’ll be back soon, okay? I love you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She hung up the phone, finally catching sight of Tony and Peter. She stared at them for a few moments before looking down at her phone again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Di.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Di looked up at Peter when he said her name. He smiled kindly at her. “I hope everything works out for you both.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Di hesitated before smiling back. “Thank you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tony and Peter went outside after that, and Tony gave Peter another confused look. “What was that about?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peter sighed. “I’ll tell you later. Let’s just get out of here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>---</span>
</p><p>
  <span>One month later, a car pulled up to the Stark residence. Maria Hill stepped out of the drivers side, and out of the passenger side-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peter rushed down the driveway before Tony had a chance to stop him, throwing himself at May. Both of them were laughing, and crying a little bit, as they held each other like they’d never let go.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Things wouldn’t be normal for a while. They might never be normal, really. But having May back made things seem just a little bit more normal. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And that was all Peter needed.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>No, the title is not a reference to the fact I haven't posted in six months.</p><p>Ngl, I wrote this because I needed to vent about my current situation. Every year my whole family goes on a short but fun vacation in December. I've been trying to quarantine to salvage the trip, but other members of my family refuse to do so, putting many at risk members of my family in danger. I'm just sick of being scared that every time I see someone I love, I might get them deathly ill. I've been looking forward to this trip since all this started in March, as I thought it was the one fun thing with my family I'd get to keep this year. But it seems like that may not be the case anymore, and it's really gotten me down. Enough that I came up with the idea of this story at 2 in the morning.</p><p>So please, for the sake of everyone who could potentially die from this stupid virus, wear a mask, wash your hands, and take all other necessary precautions.</p><p>Thanks for listening to my short rant session. Please stay safe everyone!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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